MetaTaPhysika

Apr 18, 2016

The
BMA Seminary, DiscipleGuide, and BMA Missions Department are pleased to announce a special
collaborative effort aimed at assisting member churches in one of the most
needed areas of church life. Together,
we will be sponsoring a special conference style course entitled “Principles of
Christian Counseling: An Introduction to the Place of Biblical Counseling in
the Life of the Local Church.” The conference style course will be open to all
members of the BMA (and others). Pastors, church
leaders, prospective missionaries, and associational leaders are especially
encouraged to attend. The course
specifically aims to assist participants in:

building
one’s ministry on the sufficiency of Scripture with the conviction that the
Word of God is sufficient for all matters pertaining to “life and godliness” (2
Pet. 1:3)

gaining
a greater confidence in the sufficiency and superiority of the Scripture for
handling all the personal and interpersonal problems of life

building
a culture of “one anothering” in your local church, where biblical counseling
becomes a vital ministry of all church members (Rom. 12:10, 16, 13:18, 14:13, 15:7, etc.)

learning
key foundational principles of a thoroughly scriptural approach to a
Christ-honoring church life

identifying
and responding to key areas where worldly philosophies tend to usurp biblical
authority and practice in the life of the church (2 Tim. 3:1-5)

pursuing
an enriched and improved personal life and relationship with Christ, and more.

The instructor for the event will be noted author
and professor, Dr. Stuart Scott. Dr.
Scott is Visiting Professor of Biblical Counseling at The Southern Baptist
Theological Seminary, as well as Professor of Biblical Counseling at The
Master’s College and Seminary. He will
be serving as a special adjunct professor at BMATS for this course. He has over thirty-five years of experience
in counseling training and pastoral ministry, and heads up 180 Counseling and
Education Ministry, which partners with churches to provide biblical hope and
change.

The
course will be available for seminary credit, but the normal auditing fee of
$180 has been reduced to $35 to make this as accessible as possible to all of those
interested. The course will be July 12th
-15th, (Tuesday-Friday) 2016, from 1:00-9:00 PM, on the campus of
Temple Baptist Church in Little Rock. To
register, contact the BMA Seminary Dean’s office, at bmats@bmats.edu.

Dec 14, 2015

Starting in January 2016, BMATS-Arkansas will implement a pilot initiative offering a whole new package of modular courses to complement our existing course offerings. The goal is to provide these special options several times per year (up to 4x) and will integrate progressive educational models with cutting edge technologies in order to address the most pressing needs facing contemporary Gospel ministers. Because of the unique platforms being used, these courses are available only on a limited basis, but are especially designed to provide targeted training for ministers serving in increasingly challenging cultural contexts. If you or someone you know is interested in obtaining the most theologically sound, academically rigorous, and contextually relevant accredited theological training available, here’s what you need to know:

The first course will begin January 14th, 2016 in Conway, Ark. with instruction lasting 4 days but with assignments spread throughout the Spring semester

The course is a collaboration between two theological seminaries providing instruction from three instructors whose varied interests, vocational, and academic specialties will uniquely enhance the classroom/educational experience

This particular course is a one-time option but the cost is still the lowest of any ATS accredited seminary in North America

If you would like to find out more about how to take part in one of the most innovative, academically rigorous, and theologically sound theological seminaries on the continent, you’ll want to contact either the BMATS-Ark. Administrator with questions, or the Dean to enroll.

Nov 27, 2015

An early Song of Thanksgiving and Praise (in view of the holiday). The most dramatic formatting in the Torah is found in Exodus 15, in the section known as "The Song of the Sea," or "The Song of Moses." As soon as an experienced reader of Torah sees this structure, he automatically recognizes the passage just by the formatting, viz. without even having to read the text. In Codex L, it is the most dramatic formatting in the entire Tanach (Old Testament), because even the Masoretic notes are stylized at the top of the page-the only place that happens (the below pic. is from a scroll, not codex). This formatting style is referred to as the "brick upon brick" structure and is used elsewhere in the Hebrew OT to set off special sections of the text, such as with songs, the Ten Commandments, etc. The significance here, it that the song is a song of praise and worship-the FIRST ONE.

As such, the first occurrences of terms for "praise," "exalted" (as a description of God), "extol," "strength" (as a description of God), "song" (as a description of God), "salvation" (as a description of God) are used. And these terms all show up in the first 2 verses of the song-a pretty fantastic way to begin worship.

You can see these terms in the first 4 lines (2 verses) of the brick upon brick structure. The song is *introduced with the first line/full line of the section. The first word of the song proper shows up in the middle of the first brick line "אָשִׁ֤ירָה לַֽיהוָה" ("I will sing to Yahweh"), viz. the song begins with the second word of the brick structure (reading right to left), and the first word of line 4 of the brick is "וַאֲרֹמְמֶֽנְהוּ" ("I will exalt Him"). The opening lines read thus:

אָשִׁ֤ירָה לַֽיהוָה֙ כִּֽי־גָאֹ֣ה גָּאָ֔ה

ס֥וּס וְרֹכְב֖וֹ רָמָ֥ה בַיָּֽם׃

עָזִּ֤י וְזִמְרָת֙ יָ֔הּ וַֽיְהִי־לִ֖י לִֽישׁוּעָ֑ה

זֶ֤ה אֵלִי֙ וְאַנְוֵ֔הוּ

אֱלֹהֵ֥י אָבִ֖י וַאֲרֹמְמֶֽנְהוּ׃

Note: I've formatted the lines for logical flow and based on the Masoretic accents from Codex L; observe that the divisions correspond to the disjunctive accents and that your English punctuation corresponds, or should correspond, to these accents.

In English (NASB), these read: "I will sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted; The horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea. 2 "The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father's God, and I will extol Him.

These lines are worth extra contemplation during this Thanksgiving season.

Aug 11, 2015

As the summer of 2015 comes to a close, we’re looking forward
to another great fall semester at the BMA Theological Seminary! In fact, we are once again looking at a NEW
RECORD for new student enrollment!
According to ATS, BMATS is one of the fastest growing accredited
theological seminaries in North America.
Even more, Baptistnews.com recently identified BMATS as the #1 fastest
growing ATS accredited theological seminary (of around 280)! This is due to a number of factors which we have
written about previously, but for now, here are a couple of items about which
you need to be aware in anticipation for the new semester:

Fall Semester Convocation. The Fall Semester Convocation is Friday,
August 28th. It is in the Toland
Chapel, at 7:00 PM. Our new associate
faculty member, Dr. David Cox will be the speaker for the evening. There will be lite refreshments to follow. This is required for ALL STUDENTS. Unexcused failure to attend will
unfortunately result in an absence being credited to each class in which the
student is enrolled for the semester.

New Student Orientation. The new student orientation will be prior to
the fall semester convocation from 6:00-6:50 PM in LC100 (the “Seminary Room”) in
the Cooper Complex. This event is
required for all NEW students in order to prepare you for your seminary
experience.

Late Enrollment.
The close of registration for the Fall
semester is near (next week). We have a couple of courses we are offering to accommodate
expanding student interest. These
courses may or may not make depending on actual enrollment. Here’s what you need to know: i.) If you
haven't enrolled yet, please do so as soon as possible. This will ensure that
your favorite/needed course will be available.
Timely completion of your program may depend on this; ii.) Also, if you
wait until after the close of registration, a late fee will be charged, but it
may be too late for your class anyway; iii.) If you know of someone who is on
the fence about enrolling, now is the time to remind them of the importance of
enrolling. Enrollment this semester is crucial for us to make decisions about
how the seminary should proceed in the spring and following year. Now is the time to help your friend get
signed up! Thanks so much, and I look
forward to seeing you all soon!

Jun 26, 2015

The traditional/biblical presentation of marriage as an exclusive union between one man and one woman is not a prejudiced, superstitious, patriarchal, or arbitrarily derived concept. The below provides an analysis of the amazingly beautiful, architectonic design of marriage by the Creator as found in the creation narrative of Genesis. Rarely is a full exegetical analysis, including literary and structural analyses, of the Hebrew text made available in a blog post due to its technical nature. However, in view of today's Supreme Court verdict, those with questions about this issue to need to understand the unambiguous testimony of the Scriptures on both gender and marriage. Most of the technical material is provided in footnotes. To those unfamiliar with either exegesis or Hebrew language, this will be challenging. However, I encourage you to carefully work through the below post until it is clear for you. Feel free to respond with questions.

The key biblical passage speaking to the
uniqueness of human beings is found in Gen 1:26, 27, which locates their
inherent dignity and worth in their design pattern. The structure of the text[1] suggests that humans possess
unique characteristics mirroring God’s characteristics in such a way and to the
extent, that humans are themselves sacred, though on a finite or limited
scale. In effect, this design makes them
as much like God as a created being could be.[2] Further, the presence of this design pattern,
although marred by the effects of sin (Genesis 3), prevails even in sinful
humans so that to murder a human warrants the most exacting penalty as
identified by the key biblical passage prohibiting murder (Genesis 9:6). This uniqueness is further appealed to as the
basis for why humans ought not to even be desecrated by profane speech (James
3:9).

The image of God is best reflected in the
complementary features of gender distinction as described in Genesis 2:18 and
expanded by Genesis 5:1.[3] Here, the importance of relational and gender
diversity by a human pair bond[4] is highlighted as a feature
attracting the Designer’s special creative interest. In all his uniqueness as a creature
reflecting the image of God and relating with deity, man’s relational and chromosomal
solitude was identified as an incomplete and less than ideal, i.e. “not good” design
and relational state (Gen 2:18, 20). The
Creator’s solution to the problem was to create a single complement reflecting corresponding
qualities that would correlate with and complete the male in the similar yet different
person of the human female. Together,
the male/female design most fully reflects the image of God (Gen 5:1, 2)[5] and provides the constituent
elements necessary to further procreate the image of God in the persons of other
human beings (Gen 5:3). The result is
that at conception, the fundamental blueprint for the image of God, in
embryonic form, is assimilated and reflects even in its most basic state the
glory of the Creator.

The special and exclusive relationship of
the adult human male and female joined together as husband and wife (Gen 2:24,
25) is identified as the most fundamental and basic human relationship. This relationship is said to have been
designed directly by God and serves as the sole basis for a distinct family
unit in perpetuity (Gen 2:24, 25; Gen 4:1, 17) and is even intended to be
interminable except under specific, extreme circumstances (Matt 19:8).

Notice the structure of
Genesis 1:27-28 (most visible in Hebrew). These verses represent a four line
quatrain where the “image of God” in line A is repeated in line B, and is then
epexegetically explained with the complementarity of the זָכָ֥ר וּנְקֵבָ֖ה“male
and female” of line B’. The couple is
then blessed by God in line A’ as the two waw-consecutive verbs
initiating verses 27 and 28 constitute a wordplay utilizing the device known as
paronomasia (sound play). Explanation of
the graphic: i. The typical way to describe a chiastic structure as above is A,
B//B’, A’ where the two internal lines correspond, as described here. ii. Notice the athnach at the end of
line B showing the logical middle of the section. iii. Observe the chiastic
structures of lines B and B’ showing the correspondence of בְּצֶ֥לֶםwithזָכָ֥ר
וּנְקֵבָ֖, both in blue, and then the correspondence ofבָּרָ֣א אֹת֑וֹwith בָּרָ֥אאֹתָֽםdemonstrating the “image” (grammatically
singular) is in the form of “them” (grammatically plural). This shows that the image of God is most
fully represented in the complementarity of the male and female. iv. In verse
28, God then commands the couple to procreate and subdue the Earth, i.e. gives
them the creation mandate.

[2]The uniqueness of the design of “mankind” (אָדָ֛ם) in Gen
1:26, is highlighted by a poetical device called hendiadys implemented in God's
intra-trinitarian conference. In Gen
1:26, God expressed His creative intentions.
We read וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֔ים נַֽעֲשֶׂ֥ה
אָדָ֛ם בְּצַלְמֵ֖נוּ כִּדְמוּתֵ֑נוּ.
"And God said, 'Let us make man (אָדָ֛ם) in our form, according to our image."
The idea seems to be that God intended to make man as much like God as a
created being could be. This was not necessarily a reference to his
physical form, but to his spiritual, emotional, moral, volitional, rational, relational,
governmental, etc. qualities. This imago Dei, or image of
God, is what gives man dignity. This is what makes him unique. Note,
however, that in Genesis 1:26, the term translated “man” (אָדָ֛ם) is
indefinite. This is a general statement
about mankind/humankind. However, in v.
27, the definite article is used as a constituent part of a chiastically
arranged quatrain (see above) explaining what this “image” is. This use of the article (i.e. anaphoric
use) happens when the article of specificity refers back to an anarthrous
substantive “in the preceding context” (Frederic Clarke Putnum, Hebrew Bible
Insert, Quakertown, Pa: Stylus, p. §1.4.3a). Here, the definiteהָֽאָדָם֙in 1:27 is used to refer back to the “image of God” (אָדָ֛ם) mentioned in 1:26. This only happens because the image is further
explained (epexegetically) in the lines following 1:26. Outside this quatrain, the definite article
is employed only in specific reference to “the man,” i.e. to Adam specifically,
whereas each time humanity is referred to, no article is employed.

[3] The description of the imago Dei as “most
fully reflected in the completed male/female human archetypes,” does not
mean that the image of God was not present in the isolated Adam. But Adam as “mankind” was incomplete while he
was yet alone with the result that the image was not as full. I.e. the image was present, but not as fully
present as when Eve was created as his complement. This pair represents humanity archetypically,
as even expressed in their names. Adam’s
nameאָדָ֛ם,shows the origin of
the human race from the Earth (adamah), and Eve’s Hebrew name חַוָּ֑ה(Chawah), related to the Hebrew
verb hyx(chayah), meaning to be “alive,” shows
her standing in relationship to subsequent humanity. The result is explained thus: “Now the man called his wife's name Eve,
because she was the mother of all the living (Gen 3:20). The above does not minimize the status of a
single individual or widow/widower.
Remember, though, that in God’s original design, there was no death and
therefore a widow or widower was not part of God’s original design. Likewise, there were no single individuals
and it should be noted that except in rare cases, humans do not prefer to be
alone. This is why Paul refers to some
individuals who are content in this condition as being especially gifted. Remember, fully, sexually mature, properly
functioning humans have sexual and other relational yearnings, and do so by
design. Outside of a marriage
relationship, they have no legitimate means of expressing the sexual aspect (at
least) of their design. It should also
be remembered that the above is similar to discussions related to the imago
in physically or cognitively malformed humans, or in immature humans. In the case of the first, they possess the imago,
however, due to the corrupting influence of sin and the resulting degenerative
impact of sin on humans biologically, the image is marred. In the case of immature or pre-born humans,
their image is in immature or in embryonic form. To be clear, deformed or malformed humans
reflect the image of God, but that image is not as full as in normal, fully
developed humans. Further, normal,
healthy humans do not reflect the image as fully as did pre-fall Adam and
Eve. Even more, single individuals
reflect the image of God, but not in the fully relational sense in which the
male/female archetypes did.

[4] The phrase “pair bond” is
intended to highlight the 1-to-1 relational nature of marriage, i.e. “pair,” which
inherently precludes multiple partners, such as in polygamy or polyamory. Additionally, it assumes that the two
individuals involved are sexually mature adults, precluding the participation
of 1 or more non-adults in marriage, where “adult” requires at least sexual and
cognitive maturity.

[5] In Gen 5:2,
the image of God is more fully explained.
Here, “man” or “mankind”(אָדָ֛ם) is summarized as the male and female
genders of His creation (see diagram below).
To be clear, the most full expression of the image is reflected in the prefall
representation of “mankind” as the “male/female” archetype.

Comments: i. Notice the athnach showing the
logical middle of the verse at the end of the 1st line. Also note the chiasm, which confirms the
division. Line three is indicated by: a.) the rebia over אֹתָ֗ם, and b.)
the beginning of the waw-consecutive verbal clause. ii. That next verbal
clause contains the appositional relationshipשְׁמָם֙אָדָ֔ם, where the male-female duet
constitutes “mankind” singular. In other words, “They” plural were called
“adam/man/mankind” singular. The point is that they, “mankind” were created as male and female when
they were created. The zaqqeph qaton shows the next dividing point, and
the partial chiasm of the next line confirms that dividing point. iii. The
partial chiasm of the fourth line uses the plural pronoun “they” as a reference
back to the singular noun translated “adam/man/mankind.” This final structure again demonstrates that “they” plural
constitute “man” or “mankind” singular.
iv. Notice
that all the pronouns are plural but summarized as “mankind/אָדָ֛ם”. This “mankind/אָדָ֛ם” was made “male and female” in the day
that they were created. This is the same
אָדָ֛םdescribed in Gen 1:26. In other words,
in Genesis 1:26, when God said “Let us make man [אָדָ֛ם]” in our image, he was referring to the completed
product represented in the male/female counterparts.

Jun 11, 2015

As you are
certainly aware, the Christian community in the U.S. is on the cusp of
unprecedented challenges. If there was
ever a time when we need qualified pastors and Christian leaders, it is now. Over the past year, the BMA Theological
Seminary has revitalized its Arkansas campus; this is important because we are
the ONLY accredited theological seminary in our state. We exist to honor Christ by equipping pastors
and leaders with the tools needed for effective service in today’s challenging
environment, and it is increasingly challenging. We are particularly committed
to producing excellent pastors and leaders whose work will strengthen and
establish faithful churches. In sum,
here is what God was pleased to accomplish over our 2014-15 revitalization effort:

We hired new expert faculty on the cutting
edge of their disciplines and who are addressing the issues most challenging to
us

We expanded course and program offerings to
equip our students to faithfully lead in their prospective ministry settings

We increased administrative efficiency and
reduced limiters

We saw a significant increase in enrollment
for traditional and online courses

We developed and implemented new
institutional advancement efforts

We are developing a network of likeminded
Christian leaders composed of those committed to the highest level of biblical
fidelity in their preaching, teaching, and practical ministries

We have engaged in the production of Christ-honoring
scholarly resources in the form of books, articles, lectures, and discipleship materials

There is much more to report, but time and space is
limited. Last year, Phase I, was the
revitalization of our campus. This year,
in Phase II, we particularly need to build new financial partners and increase
our student population—this summer.
In short, we need your help in three key ways. First, we need your prayer that we will
effectively honor Christ with the stewardship He has entrusted to us. Second, we need your support in building
relationships with prospective students.
Finally, like no other time, we need new financial support from those
who understand the significance of what we are doing. Because of the seriousness of our work, we
have staff and faculty working pro bono because they understand that we are
in a life and death battle for the souls of men and women, and for the glory of
Christ in our generation. I want to tell
you more, so please contact me in the way most efficient to you; my information
is below. Have your prospective students email or call me. If the Lord has moved you or your church to
contribute, you can do so online, or send monetary contributions to the following
address with the memo, “Arkansas Initiative.”

May 18, 2015

Last week, an amusing article surfaced which featured a bad Hebrew tattoo observed in an Arkansas Walmart. Several people tagged me or pointed me to this article. So, just for fun, here's my list of the most common Hebrew Tattoo Errors. Below is a picture of the tattoo in question, followed by a moral. A link to the article is at the very bottom.

1.Line break/left
justification errors. This happens when
the tattoo artist/patron doesn’t know where to make line breaks. Since Hebrew reads from right to left, line
breaks should be right justified, not left justified. The result is that something crazy like this
happens:

only a test.

this is

This is a
test,

2.Formatting errors. This happens when the tattoo artist formats
the text based on what they apparently perceive as the most attractive
layout. This is done without awareness of
the flow or structure of the text. The
result is that it gets scrambled, something like this:

to the proposition that “all men
are created equal.”

, a new nation, conceived in
liberty, and dedicated

ago our fathers brought forth,
upon this continent

Four score and seven years

3.Spelling/form/part
of speech errors. These happen when: a.)
a Hebrew word is misspelled, b.) the wrong form of a letter is used (e.g. final
form letters), c.) construct form is used when the word stands alone (e.g. “Dreams
of”), i.e. when the absolute form should be used (e.g. “Dream,”) or, d.) when
the wrong accents are used, e.g. when conjunctive accents are used for words
standing alone, etc. Compareאֱלֹהִ֑ים
withאֱלֹהִיםNotice the first word has an angle bracket looking mark under the
3rd letter. This mark is an accent
signaling its placement in the sentence.
In other words, this form would never occur alone. A tattoo of this single word with the accent shows
that it was pulled straight out of a sentence.

4.Syntax errors. Similar
to 3.c, this happens when, a.) the wrong grammatical form of a term is
chosen. Example: Imagine seeing a word tattoo
worn by an Asian man that reads “Dreamed.” What he probably hoped to say was,
“Dream;” or when, b.) two contiguous words occur with wrong or missing
prepositions or conjunctions. E.g. He ran [up] [the] mountain.

5.Wrong word/wrong
meaning. This is one of the most
common and is likely what happened in the above pic. This happens when someone has a
meaning for a term in mind, but the actual Hebrew/Aramaic word has nothing to
do with the meaning claimed.

Profound Moral: It is probably unwise to get a tattoo written in a language you do not know, or with which your tattoo artist is unfamiliar.I've heard it said that people used to get tattoos to stand out; now they get them to fit in. I don't know why folks are concerned with either. In any case, there is a booming market for tattoo removal, and some can't be removed; it will be interesting to see what becomes of the "cracker" guy. :)